Long putters on the agenda for Torrey Pines

The usage of belly or long putters were amongst the hottest issues of 2012, with a ruling finally being made that anchored strokes would be outlawed from 2016.

Discussion of the proposed ruling will be put to players regarding belly putters and broom-handle putters at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines this week.

Senior officials of the PGA including executive director Mike Davis and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem will both take part in proceedings.

"It's just part of the process, to explain the anchoring, talk a little bit about our rationale and explain how the rule operates," Davis told press Friday. "I'm going to do that and answer some questions. And then Tim is probably going to toss me out of the room and he'll talk to the players."

Three of the last five majors were won by belly putter players including Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson and Ernie Els. Which has particularly brought their use into the spotlight.

"From what the tour wants, this is just an educational thing and a chance to ask players any questions they have," Davis added. "I don't think it's designed for players to say how they feel about it."

Easier said than done. Many players have only been too happy to say how they feel about it. While World No1 Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods have not hidden their support for the ban there are several players, such as long-putter playing Carl Pettersson who is determined not to go down without a fight.

"It feels a bit like a witch hunt to me," Pettersson said. "It was a pure reaction to Keegan (Bradley) and Ernie (Els) and Webb (Simpson). They keep harping on the younger generation using them, but I think they're going to ban it because it looks bad. But you have strong arguments from other players, too.

"There's no argument that it's a better way to putt because then everybody would be using it," Pettersson said. "If it was easy, everybody on the PGA Tour would be using it. So I don't know where they got that from. It's just a different way of putting."